July 2018 Special Issue:- Best Places To Work For – The CEO Magazine – Indiahttps://theceo.in
A Monthly Magazine for Business Leaders and Decision MakersWed, 20 Mar 2019 05:26:20 +0000en-GBhourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.8https://theceo.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/cropped-TCM-Favicon-2-50x50.jpgJuly 2018 Special Issue:- Best Places To Work For – The CEO Magazine – Indiahttps://theceo.in
3232Anemoi Technologies: Reaching your organizational goals with innovative, managed technology solutions.https://theceo.in/2018/06/anemoi-technologies-reaching-your-organizational-goals-with-innovative-managed-technology-solutions/
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Anemoi Technologies: Reaching your organizational goals with innovative, managed technology solutions. In the age of technology and innovations, progressive companies know that technology is a key source of competitive advantage. However, understanding which technologies to choose is challenging. What are the solutions that will best suit your unique environment and how do you move or […]

In the age of technology and innovations, progressive companies know that technology is a key source of competitive advantage. However, understanding which technologies to choose is challenging. What are the solutions that will best suit your unique environment and how do you move or integrate owned infrastructure?

Engaging expert consultants with a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of a fast-changing IT market helps your in-house team make informed decisions. Bringing in experienced advice can eliminate the unknowns and help you avoid poor decisions and costly mistakes.

At ANEMOI TECHNOLOGIES, they combine consulting, technology, and IT services to help multiple industries to leapfrog their IT infrastructure, thereby helping the clients create more competitive and sustainable businesses. The company solves complex IT challenges for growing organizations that need to take advantage of the latest technologies and build scalable systems that can adapt to changing business needs. They also have a product division which has already created three products in industries as varied as aerospace infrastructure, Healthcare, Travel & Transportation and Retail.

The company offers a wide range of strategic tech services including Consulting & Competency, wherein focused services includesCloud Solutions, ITIL/ITSM Solutions, IT managed services/sourcing, Project & Consulting, Remote Infra Support (RIM), Business Automation Project, Application development etc. Anemoi Technologies’ consultants are highly qualified, with technical certification, to ensure that they deliver best practice solutions. They are experienced at making implementation easier, more successful and cost effective.

Anemoi Technologies’ success comes with a team work and their dedication. The company has people who are performing well with great zeal. It all shows that the company has been successful in retaining a team of experts who have been associated with Anemoi Technologies for a long time.

In an exclusive interview with the company’s leadership, they attribute their success to the entire team of Anemoi Technologies.In the lounge with Abhishek Dubey – Senior Editor, The CEO Magazine, they shares their vision of creating a transformation in the world of emerging work culture and making a difference to the lives of people globally.

Does the company have a stated set of cultural values for its employees?

The shared set of values we have defined and espouse as a way of life in Anemoi are Customer First, Excellence, Innovation, Accountability, Continual self- improvement, Integrity & Transparency, Fairness and Leadership by example

These values havebeen discussed as a way of life in Anemoi, published on posters across office. We onboard those people who align to similar value system. These become keys through his/her lifecycle in Anemoi and we feel these will be carried with the person through his/her professional life as part of good practices.

What does it take for someone to be successful here?

Understanding customer concern and tenacity to resolve, spunk to learn and innovate, energetic and sharp, updated with the happenings around both Technical and Operations, Self-help is the best help believers

Can you describe the environment here?

Energetic and reverberating with animated discussion to resolve customer concerns, technology solutions. The people are Congenial and hungry for learning and eager to contribute to discussion where all voices are equal. The team has also freedom to discuss concerns and expect due attention and consideration.

How would you characterize the company’s overall management style?

Management style at Anemoi is a smooth amalgamation of participative, pacesetting and coaching. We are open to encouragement of ideas, fearless questioning and transparent, consensus drivenas an approach to solving problems;experienced guide and support those experiencing and work towards accomplishing high standards of excellence.

What is your company’s approach to team building and career development?

Team building in our company is with a view to problem solving, collaboration, being part of supportive group and camaraderie.

Employee Lifecycle Plan designed to manage horizontal and vertical enrichment to employee career. Fast track movements are on meritocracy.

How does your company respond to and overcome failures?

We have decent resilience to failures, we believe failures are stepping stones to success provided we learn from them and not repeat the errors which may have led to such a scenario. FTR is key, this message strongly flows top down.

What is the work-life balance like here?

Flexibility to work from home wherever the role and responsibility permits, flexibility to shift the work timings to a certain extent provided the given number of hours are clocked for fairness to all and ensure work/client does not suffer. We push for employee to take vacations and come back rejuvenated; we do not have leave carryover concepts. In instances of environmental disruption in the city, employees especially female employees are given the option to stay back home without work/leave/salary repercussions.

Does the company host social outings or events for employees?

Yes, regularly. All festivalsand annual events are celebrated with fervor and enthusiasm which is always offsite.One day towards the end of the month is assigned where all of us get together to celebrate the birthday of people in the month gone by. Soon we plan to begin celebrating work Anniversaries too. These outings and get together are opportunities to boost bondingand reveal leaders with different capabilities.

What personality traits do you look for in your ideal team members?

An ideal team member at Anemoi must necessarily have a hunger to learn, put the learning to solve client concerns, innovate and zeal to prove themselves. Collaborate and help others with tasks. Speak up, discuss things with an open mind with a problem solving attitude. Down to earth, humane and respect individuals.

Is the company’s strategic approach driven by processes or results?

As a philosophy we believe adhering to well defined and robust processes will yield results. Care is to be taken in defining stage that lead to results, revisit them, take feedback and resultant course corrective actions. It goes without saying that ultimately it is the result that counts.

Do the company’s different departments ever collaborate with one another?

Yes, collaborative working is the foundation for synergized growth and problem solving. No concern is considered in silo, efforts are made to evaluate cross references to find amicable solutions. Every employee is considered to have a pivotal role status in its function.

What is the road map and future plans of the company?

We are on a high growth trajectory with a healthy cash flow & Research and Development orientation. Unlike other startups, we have positive EBITA. This clearly shows strength of our data scientist, engineers and architects. We are bullish on multiple technologies in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Big Data, Software defined networks & Bio Computing. We have heavily invested in these areas during the pre-incubation stage of Anemoi. Today, in the short span of one year, we are already reaping benefits. We will continue to invest in new technologies in future also.

Well known for employee-centric work culture Buoyancy Consultants: Setting an example in Maritime Designing Buoyancy Consultants is a burgeoning and technically advanced company excelling in a range of services from Optimization to Consultancy in Shipbuilding, Offshore and Pleasure Boats segment. Apart from being an emerging enterprise, it is also a trailblazer for its unique employee-centric […]

Buoyancy Consultants is a burgeoning and technically advanced company excelling in a range of services from Optimization to Consultancy in Shipbuilding, Offshore and Pleasure Boats segment. Apart from being an emerging enterprise, it is also a trailblazer for its unique employee-centric work culture. With its flexible work policies and cozy ambience, it has become second home for its employees. It never hesitates from giving credits to its workforce for successful completion of projects. The company wholeheartedly showers its praiseon its dedicated and apt employees for its successful journey since its inception in the year 2013.The CEO Magazine brings to its readers a host of traits which positions this workplace amongst one of the most preferred setup for job-seekers.

A Home-more-than-Home for Employees

The coziness of the environment can be attributed to its top management. Team members of the companycan be seen enjoying music while staying focused at the same time on their assignments.They make full use of this freedom and strive to deliver the best results possible. There is a strong sense of trust and mutual understanding between the employees and the management. The company cares about the overall development of its employees in various walks of life. It provides numerous career development opportunities for its employees which prove to be fruitful in a long run. The company leaves no stone unturned to give its employees a feeling of being in their comfort zone. It celebrates various festivals and birthdays of every employee with utmost enthusiasm. Apart from all these, the company helps its employees by providing flexible work hours for its employees depending upon the circumstances.

Frequent Social Outings and Events

The company never misses an opportunity to rejuvenate its employees. It keeps organizing various kinds of activities for the purpose of recreation. As the co-founder of the company Mrs. Pratibha Sawant iterates,” we believe it is a must to boost the mood and motivation of the team”. Moreover, there is a range of activities that it organizes which includehalf yearly team building sessions, Annual company foundation day, Project completion parties, Buoyant weekend and managerial outings just to name a few.

Employee-centric HR Policies

The company implements some of the best HR policies in industry by providing exclusive benefits for its employees. These benefits include; two weeks of paternity leave for its male employees, up to four months of net salary as annual bonus, referral bonus for every successful referral hire via its existing employee and coverage of up to fifteen thousand of administrative expense if employees adopt a child.

The company recognizes the exceptional work done by its employees for which they are acknowledged and rewarded frequently. The recognitions are in various forms such as monthly performers, annual awards, yearly performer and annual appraisals etc. The company never let its employees become hopeless after failures. It makes them understand that failures are part and parcel of life. It motivates them to think out of the box and to overcome the failures.

The company adopts an open door philosophy with flat hierarchy. Its values are consistency, trust, belief, mutual respect with special focus on work culture. Its culture embodies a series of values that promote respect and love. The companylets its employees do their job the way they deem fit. It is mostly interested in their passion for a particular role and their desire to learn. These aspects are valuable to the company than the education degrees of its employees. Once someone gets hired, it makes sure that there is mutual respect and room for that person to place his or her opinion during execution of assigned responsibility. The company has a lot of thrust on innovation. It has a dedicated annual Buoyant Innovation Fund, wherein innovative ideas are recognized on annual basis. It ensures that constant feedback from the managerial team and management team is provided throughout the year. It gives an opportunity to each team member to make necessary course corrections when there is any gap in expectation. Moreover, Career growth is not based on educational qualifications but only based on the performance and dedication of its employees.

Awards and Recognitions

The company has been awarded on many occasions for its outstanding services.

It was listed in Top 25 Most Promising Engineering consultants in the year 2016 by Consultants Review

It featured in a list of Top 10 Best Consultant Startups in the year 2016 by Silicon India Startup city

The company was rated among a list of Top 20 Most Promising Engineering and Design Solution Providers in the year 2016 by CIO Review.

The company was bagged the prestigious Prashant Shinde Awards 2018 for employment generation by Goa Entrepreneurs Mentoring Services (GEMS) managed by Industry stalwarts.

World Trade Centre recognized company for their outstanding performance in export of services.

The company is affiliated to some of the prestigious organizations across the globe which include World Trade Centre (Goa), NASSCOM, Goa Technology Association (GTA), Royal Institute of Naval Architects (RINA), UK to name a few.

Milestones

It is the fastest growing ship design engineering brand in India. In a very short span of time, it has expanded its presence in international countries. It grew by record 300% in 2017. All these have been achieved by the company in merely five years.

The company is striving hard to become a recognized global design engineering brand. For this, it wants to have best working culture and special focus on its team members.

Key Officials

Mrs. Pratibha Sawant (CFO& Co-Founder)

She has had an extensive experience and expertise of leading design teams across three Continents. She has worked onsite with European projects for shipyards. Later while working with a leading marine software solutions provider, she was given the responsibility for the entire South East Asia region. She spent time working with clients at their locations in order to become more competent. About a decade later, she was back in India where she co-founded Buoyancy Consultants.

Mr. Ramniwas Mourya (CTO& Co-Founder)

His experience in Ship Designing, production and Marine engineering spans across over fifteen years. His practical knowhow was honed while onsite in projects across Europe and Asia.

Mr. Prasad Prabhakar Sawant (CEO& Managing Partner)

He comes with more than decade long shipbuilding engineering background & has worked closely with world’s top shipyards in different parts of the world. Since taking over in the organization, his operational execution is supplemented by extensive work handling international projects in various countries. He has worked across design engineering, production, operations and software verticals.

Making Travel Simple Cleartrip: The leader in online integrated travel solutions from flights to hotels to experiences Since the trend of online travel bookings has come into existence, people have shown a clear preference to search and book their travel online. The disruption of the traditional travel industry has made people’s lives more comfortable and […]

Cleartrip: The leader in online integrated travel solutions from flights to hotels to experiences

Since the trend of online travel bookings has come into existence, people have shown a clear preference to search and book their travel online. The disruption of the traditional travel industry has made people’s lives more comfortable and secure in terms of travel planning. From flights to hotels to experiences, the new booking trend has brought transparency not only about secure booking confirmation but also in being cost-effective and efficient in today’s fast-paced world while being comprehensive in terms of the options available to the traveller. Over the years, several companies around the world have tried to serve travelers a satisfactory service with their different business models. But among very few successful businesses, Cleartrip has set a new benchmark in online booking for travelers and has positioned itself strongly in travelers’ hearts.

Founded in 2006, Cleartrip is a platform for flight, train, hotel and experiences search and bookings. A brainchild of Hrush Bhatt & Stuart Crighton, Cleartrip is now one of the largest online hotels, experiences and air travel aggregator in India. There are many other companies working in the same domain, but what differentiates Cleartrip is fanatic focus on customer experience and product innovation. Cleartrip offers the single most comprehensive travel experience to users through its award-winning mobile and desktop solutions. Cleartrip is also amongst the largest online businesses in India in terms of GMV and has one of the highest capital efficiency ratios in the industry. The company has also recently launched Cleartrip Experiences to become the first global travel tech company of scale to offer users an opportunity to discover and engage in leisure activities and experiences. To stay true to being a Product Company, Cleartrip believes its Products should be intuitive to even first-time users. In a country like India, where a large section of the population still does not have access to high-speed internet connectivity –performance has also been identified as a key differentiator. Cleartrip, for instance, has optimised its app to load images faster, even on 2G networks, by foregoing the traditional approach of progressive image loading.

The passion has paid-off and the company has grown remarkably. Headquartered in India, the company now has footprints across the globe with a strong presence in Middle Eastern countries, like, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Cleartrip is a result-oriented company and the people at the company are continuously striving to enhance the user-experience by making travel simple for their customers across geographies. This in their opinion is the best path for long-term valuecreation for all their stakeholders. However, they also believe that ends do not always justify means and their value systems place a strong emphasis on always doing the right thing.

Cleartrip brings many new solutions to the market with the help of its tech-pivoted and innovation-focused team. With this pioneering approach, Cleartrip has introduced many industry-first products in the travel market from time to time. The split-screen window for seeing round-trip search results, making airfare calendar with fares across five weeks available, were some of the innovations introduced by the Cleartrip in the market in its early years. It then went on to introduce online train bookings via its mobile app, another industry first! Cleartrip entered the Middle East Market in 2010 and today stands tall as the largest online player in the region.

Expressway, India’s first stored card solution on mobile was introduced by Cleartrip in 2012, thereby laying a foundation stone for making secure online payments swift and easy in the Indian e-commerce ecosystem. The company’s product ‘Cleartrip Mobile’ was listed in Apple’s App Store ‘Best of 2014’ list and has also been featured as the ‘Editor’s Pick’. In 2016 Cleartrip forayed into the Experiences segment to become the world’s most comprehensive travel app ever. Recently, the company announced that its end-to-end travel solutions (air, accommodation & experiences) were now available in Southeast Asia and Europe, adding another 66 countries to its growing full-sleeve multinational presence.

The CEO Magazine finds the company as a great place to work. Through an exclusive interview with Prasad Menon, Sr. VP – People function of Cleartrip about the work culture and a few other topics, our senior editor Abhishek Dubey brings amazing insights to our readers from the wonderful chat.

Here is the edited excerpt:

What kinds of employee achievements are recognized by the company?

An environment where we encourage hearts to feel a sense of belonging, which fosters teamwork, while also challenging Cleartrippers to compete with each other with a spirit of playfulness, is what drives our core system of recognition. These values manifest into intentions by not just ensuring adequate compensation, but more importantly peppering an array of experiences and kindling feelings in an open, special manner.

‘Celebrating exemplary performance’ is our value. It is rooted in all facets of our organisation. Be it our rewards and recognition program, performance management or office celebrations, acknowledging exemplary performance in a very transparent way is key for us.

Cleartrip is completing twelve years of making travel simple this year and in the journey we have always cherished the commitment of our employees who have stood with us over the years. Our recognition program includes Cleartrippers who have shown long-term commitment to Cleartrip. The Cleartrip family encompasses our employees, including our house-keeping staff and the security guards.

Our efforts are also aimed at encompassing the ‘One Tribe’ Cleartrip value and include the extended members of the Cleartrip ‘Tribe’ – the family membersof Cleartrippers, at every possible celebration or recognition opportunity.

Our rewards, engagement initiatives and learning interventions are based on the philosophy of being transparent while valuing meritocracy. Together, we are all empowering an ambitious future.

Can you describe the environment here?

We are on an obsessive mission of ‘Making Travel Simple’ – and driving highly compelling and sophisticated customer experience is one of the fundamental objectives at Cleartrip. We’ve been relentlessly working towards this in a cluttered market and today are known for the simplicity and intuitiveness of our product. Now, to achieve simplicity is complex and this is the challenge that drives every Cleartripper at work every day.

This customer-centric attitude of our culture is built in the way our product is created by passionate Cleartrippers. Harbouring such level of passion and commitment requires Cleartrip to be a home for its people where Cleartrippers can be themselves. Our ‘cool-quirky-fun’ value impresses on our understanding that every Cleartripper has her individuality – something that we cherish.

Office space: We are operating in amulti-geo, multi-national environment. We want the environment to interact and stimulate the minds of our people. Great people with creative minds require an open creative environment and the Cleartrip space is designed just like that. Our office design themes will intrigue you, kindle thought but at the same time will give you a sense of openness with minimalism as an underlying theme. Our office space and collaboration tools speak of our being a tech-driven organisation at the core.

The Cool, Quirky, and Fun’ tribe: While designated break-out and entertainment zones are available it is not rare to see Cleartrippers moving on a scooter, cycling around or being involved playing indoor golf within the workspace. Cleartrippers identify themselves as a part of One Tribe. So whether it is cracking a code or rejuvenating breaks, you’ll see people being comfortable always. They rightly call Cleartrip their ‘second home’. The dress code is casual and there are no restrictions on log-in timings – discretion is key. People getting their kid(s) along is a common sight at Cleartrip. And yes we are a pet-friendly office!

Everyone is accessible: Cleartrip’s offices around the globe harbour a no-cubicle culture; and managers and functional/business heads sit with their respective teams, instead of staying cocooned in cubicles or cabins. This enables a free-flowing channel of constant informal chatter, seamless communication and unfettered conversation. All this enables teams to take faster decisions; work in perfect sync and orchestrated harmony. Such a culture imbibes a feeling of oneness within employees and management alike, a scenario where an employee can walk up to the HOD or the CEO alike, to provide feedback or seek information.

Cleartrippers are hard debaters. We value positive outcomes and keep the objectivity in the discussion to focus on the right thing to do. You will often find us provoking each other’s thoughts

At the ground level, how a Cleartripper feels is close to our heart. We are as obsessive about our eNPS score as about NPS. Cleartrip, being a very vocal and expressive tribe sees over 80% participation in such pulse surveys. We come together each day to fulfil a promise of offering the single most comprehensive travel experience to users, through award-winning Mobile and Desktop solutions.

How does the organization support its employees’ professional development and career growth?

Employees have a strong say in their goal and career path at Cleartrip. Cleartrip has implemented a career architecture program, Autobot to define the career path, job roles and competencies. This program facilitates flexibility, accountability, and scalability for the next decade of growth, while giving an opportunity to Cleartrippers to define their direction of growth. Under Autobot, career ladders and expectations are visible to everyone. Together this empowers the development of conversations to be precise and granular thus keeping the process objective, transparent, methodical and open.

As people climb the ladder, fungibility grows. Fungibility of talent is a major element of our focus on nurturing people. Talent is rotated across roles to give them the necessary breadth and depth of work exposure to accelerate their way to higher levels. Today, we are proud to remark that many Cleartrippers who joined us as freshers have been challenged and nurtured in a way that they are a part of the executive leadership team.

Another aspect of employee professional and career development at Cleartrip is our unique program LEAP (Leading through Exemplary Action & Performance). LEAP is our Performance Nurturing Program (as against industry’s Performance Management Program) where individual development is a key focus area. True to the core of being an organisation that stands up for what is right, we did away with bell curves and ratings that artificially force-bucketed our people and joined the league of few pioneers across the globe to foster a culture of honest conversations that are growth-oriented.

How does your company respond to and overcome failures?

At Cleartrip, we follow the mantra of ‘fail fast and learn from your experience’. We believe that you need to entrust your people with responsibility and independence at work. At the same time we understand that failure is a possible outcome. We give our employees the necessary arsenal and trust, and more than often they shine bright with a scintillating performance.

What we have created at Cleartrip is a unique culture of undertaking risks. The message flows top-down. Cleartrip’s strategic stance on standing up as an organisation that is focusing on value-creation as against reckless discounting that other industry players are going after sends a powerful message to our employees. The same was the case when Cleartrip was among the pioneers to stand-up for net neutrality and challenge something that the entire industry was gunning after. Most recently, in the heated debate on privacy, Cleartrip holds a special mention and industry acknowledgement as a pioneer organisation that has enabled its customers with an account delete feature ever since 2014. What better way to tell your employees that it is OK to be different as long as you know what you are doing is the right thing to do?

Even at a team level, we don’t bury our failures. We talk about it, learn from it and get inspired by it. We understand that success is built on failure and is an important part of every fulfilling journey.

How are employees recognized for their efforts?

At Cleartrip, fairness and transparency are the two key tenets around which every reward program is designed and implemented. We have enabled an online program called ‘Xtramiles’ to celebrate Cleartrippers who go the extra mile. The program is designed for flexibility, instant appreciation and social visibility for the recipient.

Performance has been at the core of all our reward programs. Our PLRP (Performance-Linked Reward Program) is a unique monetary reward program especially for those Cleartrippers who have knocked it out of the park. Our quarterly performance pay is completely decentralised and provides a timely opportunity for Cleartrippers to experience an upside in their earning potential.

We also have our high potential high performing talent, the CT Top10 group included in an ongoing Ignite project for solving some unique organisation-wide challenges across diverse streams, a coveted opportunity to learn on the job. This gives them an opportunity to get a macro level picture of the organization and develop their skills in areas that may not be directly related to their work. This keeps them challenged and allows them to rub shoulders with many other brightest minds in the organisation.

What is the work-life balance like here?

Care is in the roots of the organisation and we create our employee policies with utmost precision to make them optimal and comprehensive. Our aim is always to benchmark the benefits for Cleartrippers in the top quartile in the industry.

Having said that, we never refer to policies when a Cleartripper is in need. The Cleartrip history is replete with examples in form of special leaves, flexi timing, financial help and special assistance, etc. which show how the organisation bends backwards in whatever manner possible to ensure well-being for Cleartrippers.

For us, the fun quotient is a serious affair. The employee events are a serious and well thought-out feature in Cleartrip. In line with the culture of openness, transparency and an innovative spirit, the employee events are planned by the employees and for them. These again are crafted in a way so as to help bring out the best in every Cleartripper.

With an objective to inculcate a sense of a healthy work-life balance, we introduced a Wellness Strategy at Cleartrip – FitTrip. It helped get a reality check of how healthy our physical being is. Something that is directly correlated to how well we perform at work, and when it comes to the wellbeing of our Tribe, we vehemently rallied behind. Employees were given a fitness band each and access to Professional Health & Nutrition Coaches, who worked with them to set personalised goals and provided a positive reinforcement of a healthy work-life balance.

Does the company host social outings or events for employees?

We are a quirky set of people. We always ensure that Cleartrippers get to celebrate their hard work and commitment together in two gala annual parties – the anniversary party and the year end party which are conducted in the form of a major bash that employees look forward to.

Other than the big orchestrated events, the more decentralised opportunities for collaboration outside the work environment are also considered invaluable at creating the necessary energy and aligning thoughts across our multi-geography offices. Inter-function team outings are also not rare.

We believe that travel can be a powerful agent for detoxing. We offer employees with ample opportunities to satiate their wanderlust in the form of rewards.

Community gets its due importance at Cleartrip. Cleartrip has been associated with the Magician Foundation and the Magic Bus foundation since the early years of these NGOs. The association entails purposeful outings with the members of the NGO giving them time, energy and compassion – something that Cleartrippers have always actively participated in.

Is the company’s strategic approach driven by processes or results?

We are a result-oriented company operating in a dynamic environment. When it comes to solving for travel problems the world has merely seen the tip of the iceberg and a lot remains to be done. As we are now scaling our ambition, there is equal emphasis on what should be in place to help meet our goals. There is a need for simplicity and scalability to aiding that process. This in our opinion is the best direction for long-term value creation for all our stakeholders.

As we tread newer territories of the travel solutioning field and expand our geographic footprint we don’t want to lose the sense of family and the startup-culture that we have always cherished.

We have placed a huge amount of trust on Cleartrippers whom we believe are judicious and responsible. We also believe that ends do not always justify means and our value systems place a strong emphasis on always doing the right thing.

What is the road map and future plans of the company?

Cleartrip is one of the early innovators and leaders in the e-commerce space in India with our strong product interface and focus on customer experience helping millions of Indians build trust in buying travel solutions online. We started off as an air only product and over the years have augmented choice for our customers by adding hotels and experiences to our offerings. This breadth of product diversification remains unparalleled in the industry and we will continue to enhance these offerings and develop new offerings in line with our stated objective of “Making Travel Simple”. In addition to this, we also believe that our product can be successfully leveraged to solve for customer needs in other emerging markets that are witnessing a shift from offline to online channels aided by the increased internet and mobile penetration. We have already demonstrated our ability to execute geographic diversification successfully by becoming market leaders in UAE in a short span of time and we will continue to look for opportunities to delight customers in related travel corridors across India, the Middle East and North Africa. We believe that we are positioned to demonstrate strong growth and leadership across these offerings and geographies while maintaining a sharp focus on profitability. This unique mix of superlative customer experience, market leadership, product diversification, pan-regional presence and healthy unit economics will allow us to create substantial value for our customers, shareholders, employees and partners in the coming years.

Cocoberry: India’s own frozen dessert carnival “We foster a sweet and vibrant workplace for our creative minds”- Laksh Yadav, CEO, Cocoberry It’s all gravy here. Your senses go bananas when you step into the Kiosk. Struggling with the feeling of confusion and uncertainty as all the flavors tantalize one’s palate, you make your order. You […]

It’s all gravy here. Your senses go bananas when you step into the Kiosk. Struggling with the feeling of confusion and uncertainty as all the flavors tantalize one’s palate, you make your order. You devour a small scoop and there is already a diverse explosion of taste in your mouth- fresh fruits, berry-infused flavors, chocolate sprinkles, Oreo cookies, nuts and what not? These are the vibes served at country’s first and leading frozen yogurt brand, Cocoberry; a guilt-free sweet paradise for health-conscious dessert wanderers. In 2009, our desi Dahi got westernized into yogurt and soon became the flavor of the season with the launch of Cocoberry. There is definitely something that makes half of the customers to visit the brand’s kiosks and enjoy the love of Cocoberry- making it an imperishable part of their daily diet. So, what about working with such a colorful brand? The perks and benefits included with the package can make anyone’s jaw drop to the floor! How exciting could it be to have a weekend vibe by working here every day?

After scraping and scouring, I interviewed Laksh Yadav, the young mind who took over the brand last year and is successfully spearheading the journey of Cocoberry. It’s not every day that you meet people like him who nurture a clear thought process. Fortune smiled on him early and he struck gold at the initial stage of his entrepreneurial venture. Master of his own choice, he owns them with pride and loves to live a life controlled by no one but himself. Below are the excerpts from a savory conversation on Cocoberry, how he’s talking the brand to next level and what his secret formula is that makes Cocoberry a fun place to work at:

Laksh, thanks for your time from the suitcase of your busy schedule!! I am keen to know the secret ingredient behind your success in attaining comprehensive exposure in establishing as well as stabilizing new business units.

It has been quite an adventure to date! Entrepreneurship is always tough and challenging on all fronts, but once you navigate into new terrain, you start enjoying the journey. I am still learning and growing with the lessons I have picked up at every step. And as I fulfil my duties here, my responsibilities encompass, managing Cocoberry to reach new heights and take sound care of every person associated with us. My profound tenure as an entrepreneur has bestowed me with critical business understanding and has fine-tuned me to what I am today.

What inspired you to takeover Cocoberry?

Frozen yogurts are loving the Indian market like never before. This trend has grown leaps and bounds, and health conscious Indians with a sweet tooth are moving forward to frozen desert over the not-so-healthy, traditional desserts. A new concept to the Indian market, frozen yogurt stores huge potential to soar up as more and more population wants to have a guilt-free dessert without compromising on taste. And through all these years, Cocoberry has fostered its flavor and quality to the nth degree. A sea of opportunity was in front of my eyes and I was ready to dive in. Why have a scoop, when you can have the whole pie? And the rest is history! Today my journey as a CEO at Cocoberry has been sailing smoothly.

What does Cocoberry do to keep its menu new and exciting?

Since our inception, we have always focused on our key ingredient- Quality. With our every scoop, we promise to make you taste the same quality with a unique brand experience. We have been successfully waving the fresh food flag since 2009. Our commitment to quality, functionality and customer experience all converge to create a strong brand that consumers trust. This might sound crazy but I believe Cocoberry has a mind of its own. It tells us what to do and we create it! It has a separate identity and knows exactly what its customers want more than I do. So we’re always up to date with our customers’ needs and wants. The beauty is that our customers request for new and exciting flavors and we create it for them. We proud ourselves being the reason behind 2.2 million smiles- the largest fan base worldwide for any frozen yogurt brand.

We promise to make your every bite feel like a new experience.

What’s your secret to keeping customers coming in?

If I tell u then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore, Haha! We humans are by nature curious. At Cocoberry, we’ve created our product in such a way that our customers get a fresh and unique experience with every bite. Each bite will take you to a new adventure – you don’t know what’s coming next.

What does it take for someone to be successful here?

We quest for creative and smart minds. One should be flexible, nimble, quick decision maker and above all- a happy and fine human being. We want to nestle a team that is fundamentally rooted and recognized as the golden standard in F&B Industry.

How would you characterize the company’s overall management style?

My overall company’s management style is analogous to a general managing his soldiers that strive towards a common goal. We allow room for flexibility and automation under a constrained environment that gives birth to new insights and creative ideas.

How are employees recognized for their efforts?

Our employees are treated just the way soldiers are treated when preparing for battle. We train and groom them so they can function at an optimum level and be as efficient as possible. I see my employees as a gun, however I’m the trigger. I’m usually behind the scenes making sure everything runs smoothly but at the end of the day, they’re running the show.

What are your next moves?

I want to establish Cocoberry as a force to be reckoned with. We have created a product that speaks for itself. When one says coffee, Starbucks comes to mind. Similarly, when you say frozen yogurt, I want the whole world to think Cocoberry. There is no fun playing small and the reason I want to expand worldwide is because I am very confident in what Cocoberry has to offer. To put it simply – I want Cocoberry to dance in millions of people’s mouth and flirt around with their taste buds.

We want to revolutionize the frozen yogurt industry. We know everybody loves ice cream, and overlook and blink over the fact that it’s not a healthiest thing. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions. So Cocoberry can be framed as a healthy ice cream brand when really all we are doing is creating some dangerously delicious frozen yogurt. We want our presence felt and spread like a virus PAN India and other countries like the GCC region, and the UK. We wish to expand without compromising on our commitment of delivering quality in every scoop.

What’s your favorite Cocoberry flavor?

I think it’s not a fair question. Honestly, asking about my favorite Cocoberry flavor is same as asking me who I love more – Mom or Dad? Every flavor is close to my heart and sweet tooth as well!

Who do you look to for guidance and mentorship in the business?

My father has been my backbone throughout my journey. His support and positivity has been my guiding light in achieving these landmarks.

Disrupting by Blockchain, IoT & Payments Exioms creates great work culture for the employees, perform better. The world is making progress towards great workplaces for all. The best are getting better around the globe, and the number of great, high-trusted workplaces is increasing. Indeed, the better days at work at a growing number of organizations around […]

The world is making progress towards great workplaces for all. The best are getting better around the globe, and the number of great, high-trusted workplaces is increasing. Indeed, the better days at work at a growing number of organizations around the world have a ripple effect. Employees at these workplaces come home to be better parents, better friends, better community members, better citizens of their countries, better members of human race. The great place to work for all movement is advancing across the globe. And that’s great news for everyone.

The CEO Magazine is ready to list its annual compendium of the ‘Best Places to Work’, an award listing based on reviews from company employees. After a research of The CEO Magazine, we were curious to know the reason of earning such high praise from the teams of few companies and finally we decide to bring their stories for our readers. One of the companies of the list‘Exioms®’ has set a new benchmark for its staffs which is a Business Innovation company. The company provides a wonderful work culture for its employees.

A brainchild of Mrityunjaya Prajapati and Dileep Seinberg, Exioms optimizes innovations and technologies through multiple products and services to name few Blockchain, IoT and Payments. Since its inception, the company has been on forefront by providing its remarkable offerings. For its expertise and dedication, Exioms was awarded as Top 10 Blockchain Technology Solution Provider in Asia along with over 10 Awards in last five years.

Implementing technology solutions in different domain under one roof for various industries, is a challenge on account of various factors, which Exioms has successfully achieved by adopting innovation centric approach for customers. Thoroughly analyzing your needs, industry and product requirements, the company delivers tailor-made, cost-competitive, scalable and robust technology solutions. Exioms’ experience across various industries translates into a differentiated value proposition and stimulates time-to-market for clients. The company delivers comprehensive services to five hundred businesses with creating success stories with global companies like TATA, Wuerth, Zain Bank, United Motors (UM) to name a few. Exioms’ transparent, efficient and flexible world class technologies development process zero down risks of any kind of failure and creates productive solutions that meet present as well future demands.

Exioms’ success can be attributed to the work culture at the company. The company has people who love to face new challenges and curious to implement innovations in every new products and services.

Spearheading the company’s rapid growth at the current stage are founders of Exioms,Mrityunjaya Prajapati and Dileep Seinberg. With extensive global experience across domains, they are successful versatile leaders. In the lounge with Abhishek Dubey – Senior Editor, The CEO Magazine, they shares their vision of creating a transformation in the world of emerging work culture for employees and making a difference to the lives of people globally.

What does it take for someone to be successful here?

We are in the Pursuit of New Innovations to bring a positive impact. We promote new ideas, ownership and innovation at work. We believe that best minds not necessarily come from best institutes, and we are always looking for best talents.

What kinds of employee achievements are recognized by the company?

We have several Recognition Achievements Programs at Exioms. Best Performer in a Quarter & Person of the year. We are Goal & Results driven company, we believe small and bigger perks come along when you do good.

Can you describe the environment here?

Exioms workspace is like a Family, where team strongly believes in collaborative spirit. We do not have any hierarchy system in place, and anybody is reachable to anyone be it Management or Founders of the company.

How does the organization support its employees’ professional development and career growth?

We are in Pursuit of new innovations, and there is always new to learn at Exioms. We work on latest technologies and we chose our projects accordingly. We work on new ideas and exciting projects.

How would you characterize the company’s overall management style?

Company Management style is Mentoring people, building something big with new ideas and technology at place.

What is your company’s approach to team building and career development?

Our team gets extensive on job training and learning opportunity. Every week we organize team building activities. We believe it’s a continuous journey wherein we both Exioms and employee grow collectively.

How does your company respond to and overcome failures?

Failure is a part of any business. After going through such situation, we came to know what not to do. We practice innovative ideas where experiment required which may succeed or fail. But it doesn’t stop us practicing innovation.

How are employees recognized for their efforts?

We have a fair assessment structure in system like R&R, Wall of Fame, and Early recognition which motivates team to perform better in every aspect of career and also helps top talent to retain and keep team engaged.

What is the work-life balance like here?

In today’s competitive world business demands more and quality output. To ensure employees are able to meet their personal commitments – we have flexi hours, work from home, open door and employee friendly policies where everyone has freedom to choose their choice of dressing. To make our work environment more interesting and stress-free Festivals, birthdays, annual function, events are celebrated at the office with the same enthusiasm and high spirit. It not only improves in the quality work but we also use it as a part of strategy for team building.

Does the company host social outings or events for employees?

We have a very interactive employee engagement strategy which includes social outings, get-together with the top management team. Weekly we have fun at floor activity and monthly a major event to break the monotonous of daily routine life.

Fusion Microfinance: Empowering Rural Women by accessibility to economic opportunities. Women havea pivotal role in the Indian story of nation building. While opportunity for employment in rural areas are lacking they make up for this by their in born entrepreneurial talent. But there are many obstructions in accessibility of borrowing for omen. Though multiplicity of […]

Women havea pivotal role in the Indian story of nation building. While opportunity for employment in rural areas are lacking they make up for this by their in born entrepreneurial talent. But there are many obstructions in accessibility of borrowing for omen. Though multiplicity of schemes are introduced and announced, implementation at ground levels is lacking. It was the year 2010 when Mr. Devesh Sachdev, a versatile entrepreneur, set-up “Fusion Microfinance” so that these “aspirational rural poor” get to make their dreams take shape. The financial organization ‘Fusion Microfinance’ is a registered NBFC – MFI which operates in a Joint Liability Group lending model of rural “Grameen”.

Fusion Microfinance’s clients comprises of only women living in rural and semi-urban areas. Their focus is reaching out to unbanked and providing financial services to women entrepreneurs belonging to the economically and socially deprived section of the society. Fusion provides such loans ranging from INR 12,000 to INR 50,000 for loan tenure of 1 year to 2 years. The clients are from the poor section of the society and undertake these loans to start new business or expand existing businesses. In addition to micro-credit services, Fusion offers life insurance for its clients and their spouse. In case of unfortunate event of death of either client or her husband, not only the principal due to the client is waived off but also the principal repaid to Fusion is returned to the client/ nominee

Fusion’s responsibilities are not restricted merely to financial support but also to ensure Financial Literacy .This means both clients and non-clients alike who attend these programs are able to take informed and effective decisions with all their financial resources.

Fusion believes in robust business practices, transparent policies expressed in their Customer Centric efforts towards their Clientele. The company aspires to create value and balanced growth for all its stakeholders while keeping clients at the center.

Fusion’s success can be attributed to its work culture. Spearheading the company’s rapid growth at the current stage is founder of Fusion Microfinance, Mr. Devesh Sachdev. With extensive global experience across domains, he is aninspirational leader. In the lounge with Abhishek Dubey – Senior Editor, The CEO Magazine, he shares his vision of creating a transformation in the world of empowering women in the country and making a difference to the lives of women throughout the nation along with few words about the work culture at the company.

Does the company have a stated set of cultural values for its employees?

Our Values are “Respect for Individuals, Collaboration, Transparency and Humility.” The senior leadership team“walks the talk” and this ensures stronger culture building than any policy document. There is also less chance of dichotomy between stated values and existing practices.

Our talent acquisition process hires with cultural compatibility at the forefront. This pays long term dividends in higher engagement and also better retention of employees across levels.

Can you describe the environment here?

The work environment is built around the twin pillars of customer centricity and meeting of our core values of Respect for the individual, Collaboration &Transparency. Rules and regulations ensure that employees have clarity in all aspects of office and infrastructure maintenance.

We also aim at building compassion into our DNA. In the event of an unfortunate and unforeseen death or illness of either an employee or a close family member we help them tide over this period by extending support over and above a normal Insurance cover. Employees also spontaneously come together to set up funds that can help support their colleagues in need.

How are employees recognized for their efforts?

The organization believes in sustainable growth. This means focus on process robustness as well as results. Hence employee’s efforts become as important as their ability to deliver results.

To institutionalize this Business Excellence dept. creates and channels all process mapping and improvement projects. Value Stories of Employee generated process improvement areas are celebrated and shared. Quality awards are instituted for Projects delivering process improvements in mission critical areas.

Do the company’s different departments ever collaborate with one another? What kinds of people seem to succeed in this company/department?–

“Collaboration” is one of our Core Values .The Management believes that this culture defining value will ensure better stakeholder management, engaged employees and improved business velocity.

Cross functional projects and new initiatives are encouraged and celebrations of shared victories ensure that this message reaches all.

What is the road map and future plans of the company?

“Our Human Capital Roadmap is built on the saying “Culture eats Strategy for breakfast”. Our unique culture is built on the robust platform of our Core Values of , Respect for the Individual , Collaboration , Transparency & Humility .These Core Values through training, the monthly communications, the performance-appraisal system, the role models, and ultimately every decision we make translates to a dynamic working environment.

Our focus for the immediate future will be now on talent transformation across levels by investing on L&D. Innovating on our Performance Management System to identifying critical talent and career planning for middle and senior management continues to be our priority.

We have laid the foundation for building HR scalability in terms of processes and systems so that our journey to emerging as a large and stable organization is supported by agile Human Capital.

A trailblazer in the Healthcare Communication and Paradise for Employees: Medwiz Healthcare Communications Healthcare Communication is a unique concept which was not very much in vogue a few decades back. The IT revolution in the 90s opened a new door of interaction between companies and their clients. The CEO magazine got an opportunity to see […]

A trailblazer in the Healthcare Communication and Paradise for Employees: Medwiz Healthcare Communications

Healthcare Communication is a unique concept which was not very much in vogue a few decades back. The IT revolution in the 90s opened a new door of interaction between companies and their clients. The CEO magazine got an opportunity to see the bigger picture of this field by having a frank chat with the MD of Medwiz Healthcare Communications Pvt Ltd, Dr. Mamta Jain. Medwiz has been playing a role of trailblazer for more than a decade in healthcare consulting for having specializations in health and e-health segments. It provides its services in customer-centric marketing, sales strategies, brand content, scientific communications, events & professional relations and KOL management. Colossal varieties of communication publishing strategies are deployed to flourish high octane campaigns and services. It has a stronghold of its audience by putting together its contents throughout the world. The company credits its employees for all that it has achieved so far in this burgeoning market.The company looks for certain traits such as Skill set, Drive to succeed, Integrity, Efficiency, Flexibility and due diligence towards work in hand in its prospective employee.

Medwiz has all those features which an employee seeks for in his or her prospective employers. Gifted with a de-stressed working environment, it provides the ambience where employees are meant to learn from mistakes rather than feeling anxiety about their mistakes or failures. The only thing that the company expects from its employees is to work with sincerity while staying committed to the work in hand. The tenacity and stimulus to perform accordingly has unquestionably led to an improvement in the output, efficiency and overall success of the employees. The company recognizes its employees no matter how low or high they are ranked in hierarchy. Any commendable job being small or big is recognized in front of entire team. It recognizes every sort of job. Achievements in an employee’s scope of work are appreciated in all respective departments. There is a set of recognition for every stratum of field. If we talk about medical writers, they are acknowledged when they turn a job in hand into an approved product. Similarly, for designers, designs made with precision and divergent thinking earn them their appreciations. Apparently, we can see different yardsticks being used by every department. Employees are recognized in front of their peers and performance is also incentivized. Company does not want its employees to work for long hours. It understands that employees are also human being and they need to strike a chord between their personal and professional lives. It emphasizes to everyone for leaving office on time. Moreover, if employees find it tough to be present in the office due to their personal commitments there is an option of flexi timings and options for work from home especially during emergencies. What makes this place a heaven for its employees is its buzzing liveliness with a relaxed atmosphere.

Differential Factors

There are many companies in the same domain but what places it apart is its never-ending trust on the capabilities of its employees and an approach by which every employee is taught to cope up with failures. The company assists them in making a strong comeback so that they could emerge as victorious. Any specific talent in an employee is given proper attention by the company and it works for nourishment of the talent. Employees are given elbow room to outclass their strength and the company work upon their Unique Selling Proposition. The learning process is exemplary.The company provides an ambience which helps in creating a “high-performance work team”.Medwiz devises a posse of goal-focused individuals with specialized expertise and skills. These people amalgamate, pioneer and engender exclusive outcomes. Dr. Mamta Jain says, ”The group incessantly chases performance excellence through shared goals, shared leadership, collaborations, open communication, clear role expectations and group operating rules, early conflict resolution and a strong sense of accountability and trust among its members”. Employees are provided with Directional guidance for all projects after which there is no micro management needed. Moreover, the company always welcomes contrasting propositions and outlooks. The Company stays in touch with its employees with the help of its methodical conversations. This assists the company know about people’s aspirations and hence it invests in their development. This in turn, intensifies chance of having the right people in the right place at the right time. In-house discussions and outdoor activities are primarily implemented. Progressive learning and coherent execution of projects establishes the proper coordination among team members and all-embracing growth of the individual as well. Being armed with this kind of knowledge helps the business stay agile and ready to respond to whatever is round the corner.

The MD of the company says, ”Success, failure and greatness go hand-in-hand”. These lines are motivational enough to infuse any person with energy. Medwiz understands the fact that the road to success is not a linear one. The company recognizes learning on the job can have its own pros and cons. The company analyzes any flaw made by its employees and strives to rectify those by apt discourse of top management. It embraces the fact that learning from mistakes helps an organization in growing with much more pace than earlier. This persuades a working place to provide better services to its clients. Medwiz is determined to overcome business failure and does not shy away from adding any critical component to its organization.

The company knows how to keep its employees jubilant throughout the year. It hosts social outings with a philanthropic mindset that for every celebration it should give back something to society. Its effervescent Outings include regular lunches, yearly picnics and movie trip. A Visit to Orphanage, animal shelter and old age home all are what it considers as opportunities to bond.

After carving a niche for itself in the Indian market, it aims and aspires to make a commendable imprint globally by expanding its operations in well thought out locations like UAE, Europe, Singapore, China and the USA. To strengthen its operations and reach in India, it is exploring use of technology to enhance patient care.

About the Founder

The company was established under an apt leadership of Dr. Mamta Jain in the year 2005. Being a woman entrepreneur, she is an inspiration for millions of struggling ladies. Her journey has not been a smooth one. She has learnt the art of winning over the obstacles whichever came her way. She learnt with the debacles and paved the way to success.

MSewa Software Solutions (MSS): Fuelling and inspiring its workforce to cultivate its business financially and socially What makes an organization a great place to work for? The recipe for a perfect workplace is a blend of addressing the needs of employees and investing more in them by fuelling their growth and inspiring to bring out […]

MSewa Software Solutions (MSS): Fuelling and inspiring its workforce to cultivate its business financially and socially

What makes an organization a great place to work for? The recipe for a perfect workplace is a blend of addressing the needs of employees and investing more in them by fuelling their growth and inspiring to bring out the best of them. However, creating a one workplace culture from the myriad of local cultures every employee brings turns into a catastrophic situation. So how to get on the same page? Pankaj Kumar, a technocrat and the CEO of MSewa Software delivers a perfect reply. “At MSS, top management is easily approachable as we have no hierarchy. We understand each member’s need for personal space and commitment to other life factors. Our work environment feels like home only with complete madness. Home only. The day starts with a cup of ginger tea blended with discussions and talks with our team members, along with a lot of laughter. Once that gets over, we then get back to our respective work or order for another cup of ginger tea, this time a little stronger. The morning discussions are usually very robust and provide us with energy to get us going all day.”

Revolutionizing Digital Payment Space

Pankaj is an MBA graduate from James Cook University Australia. 2011, he conceptualized and incorporated his first digital payment venture in Singapore which currently is a part of a Global Money Remittance company listed in Toronto Exchange. With sands of time, his interest in financial services solution inspired him to develop digital wallets for multiple countries and creating an ecosystem for financial institutions. He took the challenge and incorporated his second venture in India under the brand name MSewa Software Solutions which is known as MSS Payments. Fostered by his leadership and techno-expertise, MSewa has positioned itself firmly among the heart of digital India which is surfing on quick and bold steps to move from a cash-admired country to a cashless economy. Revolutionizing the banking and finance industry in a stint of four years since its inception, the organization has emerged as an established international financial services technology player renowned for creating a business network by connecting its clients with stakeholders and beneficiaries through a single platform to carry out smooth transactions. With its bedrock laid on the soil of customer gratification and business elevation, MSS enables convergence of compliant domestic and cross-border payments, peer-to-peer, business-to-customer, business-to-business, merchant payments, shopping and other such transactions for industry leaders like Vijaya Bank, Centrum Finance, Paul Merchants & many others through a single platform.

From being recognized with Best Initiative in Mobile Payment 2015, Top 100 Red Herring Asia 2015 to getting shortlisted in NASSCOM emerge – 50 and getting crowned as the Top 10 Payment Provider By CIO & Top 100 Red Herring Asia 2017, the organization’s mettle has been acknowledged by some of the world’s best brands and industry leaders.

Fortune smiled on the organization as early as the first year of its conceptualization, with the right catch and today the firm enjoys more than 10 million registered users and 250,000+ merchants across the Indian geography. While attributing the achievements to the team’s hard work and commitment, the management proudly boasts MSS’ towering corporate performance. The team has meticulously worked to understand and adjust in line with the vision of the organization. To know the secret sauce behind the happy faces, The CEO Magazine had a conversation with Pankaj over a host of issues about what makes MSS a happy work paradise.

Here are the edited excerpts…

What does it take for someone to be successful here?

The two I’s: Intention and Innovation. In start-ups, all you need is an intention to succeed which comes from the very obvious innovative ideas, considering the highly demanding society.

What kinds of employee achievements are recognized by the company?

Even the slightest achievement an employee gains or has been earned, hence, it is valued in my company. Doubling the figures is not what I look for. That is not achievement. Rather, how much the employees have developed on the personal front from the time he stepped into my company, that’s the real progress.

How does the organization support its employees’ professional development and career growth?

We have something called “In or Out” Policy. The management sits with each individual and set a target agreed on mutually. If the team member completes the target within the stipulated time period, he is in. Failure to achieve the target will result in his termination. This policy forces individuals to learn, grow, develop and climb the success ladder. We also encourage our employees to pursue their passion, be it music or drama or some other form of art.

How would you characterize the company’s overall management style?

The style the management prefers to adopt is debative and explorative in nature. We don’t believe in pushing our ideas into their brains and expecting everyone to follow. Rather, we discuss with our team, have debates and try to explore new ideas and then jump to a mutual consent.

How does your company respond to and overcome failures?

Failure makes us even stronger. We wear the attitude “At least we tried” and walk with heads held high. When our team members fail, we give them even greater opportunity for them to combat the fear of failure. Then they learn with even more sincerity and commitment.

How are employees recognized for their efforts?

The formula is simple. It directly depends on how much the individual has had personal growth. No growth means no efforts taken. Apart from half yearly and yearly analysis, we believe in the policy of immediate feedback. We appreciate and honor their good work the moment it is delivered.

Does the company host social outings or events for employees?

This is a major part of MSS. We host various recreational activities every quarter. Recently we had a full day program at Play Arena which included plenty of games and activities. Apart from this, we organize small gathering every second Saturday celebrating birthdays of the month.

What personality traits do you look for in your ideal team members?

Cheerful, Humorous and Confident! You have to be happy from within, only then will you be able to work. Confidence is yet another factor which brings out many positive traits from within you.

Do the company’s different departments ever collaborate with one another? What kinds of people seem to succeed in this company/department?

Rather I would say, do members of different department ever sit separately. We are a small team of 50+ (and growing). We have made a point of not assigning a specific place to members. Members come, sit where ever they want, change their places the next day. This helps break the barrier. And this has helped team members mingle with each other. We have enough scope for members to climb the success ladder. You have to figure out the right option and take the opportunity as it comes your way.

What’s next?

We are eyeing to become the first Global Digital Payment Provider. Currently, we are serving 7 countries with our platform and we would like to cover at least 20 countries in next 5 years.

Oaknet Healthcare: A leader in pharmaceutical products, harnessing lives by offering innovative treatment concepts Oaknet Healthcare founded in 2015 by R S Raghav and a team of distinguished professionals combining more than 150 years of experience in the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry (IPM) has created a sort of benchmark by scaling up to acquire the operations […]

Oaknet Healthcare founded in 2015 by R S Raghav and a team of distinguished professionals combining more than 150 years of experience in the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry (IPM) has created a sort of benchmark by scaling up to acquire the operations of a South Africa based MNC, thereby taking a giant leap to become one among the top 100 Pharma companies in IPM. As one of the leaders in the IPM with an overall rank of around #80 in IPM with strong presence in certain therapies, Oaknet has remained dedicated to creating medicines that help improve quality of life of patients while strengthening the hands of the physician in treating various diseases in identified specialty therapeutic segments. At the heart of Oaknet’s operations is its vision of developing a Sustainable, Scalable and Specialty focused pharmaceutical company. Aligning with its vision & strategy, Oaknet is engaged in marketing state of the art pharmaceutical products inspecialty therapeutic segments as diverse as Dermatology, Cosmetology, Cardiovascular, Diabetic, Orthopedics, Gynecology etc. The company has maderapid strides with a pivoted and well aligned strategy which will steer the company towards achieving its vision.

With the objective of attaining leadership in focused Therapies and a Global Presence, Oaknet is looking forward to partnering with Global Innovators and bring in their expertise in addressing the treatment gaps and usher in technological innovations in IPM. Oaknet has an efficient and well-crafted strategy in place to achieve its vision and milestones and is currently focused on Effective Execution of these strategies. The company differentiates itselfas being led by their unique pharma strategy that leverages the reach and scale of a major pharmaceutical company paired with the entrepreneurial spirit and agility of a young and dynamic team.

The company employs a team of 1200 odd young, energetic, passionate professionals and each employee is considered to be a leader in her / his own merit. Oaknet has strong R&D process and is working with a few global partners in bringing certain state-of-the-art therapeutic innovations in Dermatology, Cosmetology, Cardiovascular, Orthopedics, Gynecology etc.The Company’s growth, dedication and work culture have drawn attention of The CEO Magazine (TCM). We recognize Oaknet as one of the best places to work for employees.

Mr. R S Raghav – CEO & MD of Oaknet recently shared his views about the work culture at the company and its plans for the future.

Here is the edited excerpt on an exclusive interview:

Does the company have a stated set of cultural values for its employees?

We have a philosophy of being “Productive in Approach, Progressive in Spirit”. Each employee lives the values of:

Committed to Learning

Openness

Innovation

Compassion

We manifest the culture where “Customer is always first”.

What does it take for someone to be successful here?

The leadership team is very humane in their approach. The leadership team has started their careers as PSRs in Pharmaceutical Selling and rose up the ranks. Any employee demonstrating the spirit of progress and success gets full support of the leadership team and the line managers. As elicited above, we treat every employee to be a leader in her / his own merit.

Can you describe the environment here?

We have an excellent atmosphere of Teamwork, Performance Orientation, Industriousness and competitiveness. The leadership is highly supportive in developing people through performance.

How does the organization support its employees’ professional development and career growth?

We have an excellent training subsystem in place for developing the competencies of employees. The training subsystem and talent management process are dovetailed to establish an excellent employee development platform.

We have a comprehensive induction program for new joiners where we focus on integrating the new employees into the Oaknet culture so that we work in alignment with the organizational goals and systems apart from developing a basic understanding of company’s products and In-Clinic Effectiveness.

We have initiated a comprehensive Management Development Program “I LEAD (I Lead, Engage, Achieve, and Develop) for the 2nd and 3rd line managers wherein they are trained on the People Practices and systems apart from Business Planning.

For First Line Managers, I LEAD (I Learn & Execute for Accelerated Delivery) focuses on developing them on supervisory skills, On the Job Coaching and driving In-Clinic Effectiveness partnering with the Business Executives.

We have an internal promotion policy which mandates at least 80% of all managerial positions being filled within (through internal talent). Our leadership team manifests a culture of “Care & Compassion”. The management’s heart lies with the pharmaceutical selling professionals (Business Executives) and their success.

We have also implemented a lateral promotion policy for employees to grow horizontally if not vertically; for e.g. BE – Sr. BE – TBM etc.

How would you characterize the company’s overall management style?

The management team having come up through the ranks is fully sensitive to the needs of our BEs. The team always demonstrates the spirit of contribution to the success of 1200 odd employees and roughly 5000 odd family members.

How are employees recognized for their efforts?

Our recognition and reward programs are well benchmarked. The program rewards individual and team achievements. Beside this, we celebrate small successes in the offices so that the shared services understand their roles as business partners in the entire growth journey.

What is the work-life balance like here?

The employees enjoy adequate freedom to manage their work as well as their time and efforts. In case of exigencies, we do allow employees to work from home. We believe each one is a leader at Oaknet and hence accountability for managing life, career and performance lies with the employee/s.

Does the company host social outings or events for employees?

We believe in creating an inclusive environment and fun at workplace. We also encourage departments to conduct outbound training programs, off sites etc.

Is the company’s strategic approach driven by processes or results?

The leadership team always emphasizes the Spirit of EXECUTION. We are driven by Results; however, we believe that Processes are enablers for Sustainable Results. We have clinically ensured that our processes and systems make us nimble enough for Execution.

Do the company’s different departments ever collaborate with one another? What kinds of people seem to succeed in this company/department?

The central functions or shared services functions are business facilitators. Being a sales & marketing organization, all the efforts shall serve the employees who are our revenue centers and the faces of the organization to our customers, we mean Business Executives. We live a culture where “Customer is always first”

What are the milestones of the organization?

The typical milestones are:

Team Oaknet has scaled up to acquiring the pharmaceutical business of an MNC within 18 months of the company coming into existence.

Team Oaknet has been successful in rekindling the performance orientation of the employees and putting each business vertical on a growth trajectory.

We further acquired 7 brands from the Sandoz business of Novartis in India

What is the road map and future plans of the company?

The company has plans in place to scale up the operations and achieve productivity (PCPM) of 4.5 lacs per Business Executive in the next 24-30 months. This will catapult us into top line revenue of INR 500 crores per annum. The first milestone in the process of achieving this productivity could be “we will be amongst the top 50 in IPM”.Our long-term plans are to scale up the business to a top line business of INR 1000 crores.

]]>https://theceo.in/2018/06/oaknet-healthcare-a-leader-in-pharmaceutical-products-harnessing-lives-by-offering-innovative-treatment-concepts/feed/0Nurturing and celebrating human intelligence is the only way to build a great Artificial Intelligence company: Quadratyxhttps://theceo.in/2018/06/nurturing-and-celebrating-human-intelligence-is-the-only-way-to-build-a-great-artificial-intelligence-company-quadratyx/
https://theceo.in/2018/06/nurturing-and-celebrating-human-intelligence-is-the-only-way-to-build-a-great-artificial-intelligence-company-quadratyx/#respondTue, 26 Jun 2018 07:24:49 +0000https://theceo.in/?p=58781

Nurturing and celebrating human intelligence is the only way to build a great Artificial Intelligence company: Quadratyx What ideal characteristics do job-seekers look for in a technology employer? Technical excellence combined with family-like relationships, mutual trust, respect and empathy. The CEO magazine is pleased to bring to you the synopsis of a young company that […]

Nurturing and celebrating human intelligence is the only way to build a great Artificial Intelligence company: Quadratyx

What ideal characteristics do job-seekers look for in a technology employer? Technical excellence combined with family-like relationships, mutual trust, respect and empathy. The CEO magazine is pleased to bring to you the synopsis of a young company that is not only a trailblazer in the white-hot field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), but also is deeply passionate about creating a truly empathetic, excellence-inducing, joyful work environment. This remarkable company is none other than Quadratyx.

Quadratyx is achieving rapid success in applying the powerful new technologies of Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, to sectors like Banking & Financial services, Retail, Manufacturing, Energy, Government and many others. Owing to its thought leadership in corporate training, consulting and innovative solution building, Quadratyx has established itself as a valued provider for many major institutions and companies, such as the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, National Payments Corporation of India, CIBIL, Microsoft, Maruti Suzuki, Micromax, DR. Reddy’s Labs, Edelweiss, Novartis, Mahindra Home Finance and Chola MS General Insurance. In addition, outside of India, Quadratyx serves dozens of customers in UK, USA, South America and the Middle East.

Infused with an ambience of human warmth, motivation, inspiration and excellence, Quadratyx has become the breeding ground for budding leaders. As the company deeply believes and trusts its employees, any employee can aim for any target – doesn’t matter how high that target is or how low that employee is positioned currently. The company believes in mentoring, monitoring and assisting every individual, to ensure that foundations always remain strong. Successful employees at Quadratyx are characterized by passion for their field of work, uncompromising desire to excel, humility and respect for all others in the team.

There is a rarity about Quadratyx leadership, which recognizes managers as persons that work harder than everybody else, but give all credit of success to colleagues. Even more peculiar, leaders at Quadratyx take the responsibility of failures entirely upon their shoulders, not blaming the team. Quadratyx stands tall amidst any group of employers when it comes to acknowledging and rewarding the achievements of its employees. The CEO and top management never shy away from giving credit to the team members where credit is due, at any level. Company recognizes and rewards its employees for a long list of efforts which include preparing patents or publications, causing customer delight, exemplifying good personality traits, making money for the company, taking initiative, exhibiting discipline, mentoring other employees, so on and so forth.

Quadratyx achieved success rapidly in multiple technology segments primarily because of its unique work culture. The company practices an equal and non-hierarchical work culture, whereideas from anyemployee arepaid keen attention to, by people much higher in rank. Employees are surrounded by people who possess a deep understanding of required subjects. Knowledge and skill will be your primary assets at Quadratyx, not politics, suave communication, experience or aggression. Employees learn techniques, skills from experienced and competent leaders. The company believesthat” a small band of hard-working, well-intentioned, fearless people can transform the world”. One of the interesting parts of Quadratyx work culture is its office space – an open area where employees of dissimilar experience levels, dissimilar backgrounds, and dissimilar cultures sit and work together happily. To empower employees at all levels, many types of training programs are offered. These internal programs equip staff with newer technologies, best-practice processes and tools, as well as prepare them in customer domains and customer work areas. In addition, all interested Quadratyx staff are encouraged to study more and obtain advanced degrees. Company acknowledges that youth must be the driving force behind new innovation. – Even staff members with 2-3 years of experience are given the primary responsibility to deliver a large global project. They are augmented by teamswith 10-15 years of experiencewho assist in their success.

The Founder and CEO of Quadratyx, Dr. Sreerama K Murthy, was perhaps the first Indian to get a Machine Learning PhD from the prestigious John Hopkins University. His thesis describes the invention of a new Decision Tree algorithm for solving a massive image classification problem for the Hubble Space Telescope. Dr. Murthy spent over 23 years since, inventing and building novel solutions in multiple industries, using Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and then Big Data. He holds twenty-one patent applications and dozens of global publications, all in Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Murthy’s first love is mentoring and training professionals at all levels in AI & Big Data. He has been widely acknowledged as one of India’s top-10 analytics academicians, and as a big data rock star. He has built from scratch, mentored and driven to success multiple large, well-knit technology teams. When Dr. Murthy’s passion for solving novel problems using AI is combined with his love for mentoring, all in the backdrop of his humility and spiritual wisdom, a potent environment that transforms ordinary technologists into highly competent, confident, happy and humane technology leaders is born.

Quadratyx aims to be the most preferred employer in AI, Big Data & Cognitive Automation, being driven by the same great values that helped it to grow from inception, to now scale to thousands of employees who consider Quadratyx as a home-better-than-home.

Excellence in Diagnostics Happy Employees result in Happy Customers is the mantra followed by Suburban Diagnostics In today’s day and age, every industry is going through rapid change and upgradations. The healthcare industry is no exception. Technological advancements, newer drugs, newer diagnostic tests and new research findings have shaped the way; the healthcare industry has scaled […]

Happy Employees result in Happy Customers is the mantra followed by Suburban Diagnostics

In today’s day and age, every industry is going through rapid change and upgradations. The healthcare industry is no exception. Technological advancements, newer drugs, newer diagnostic tests and new research findings have shaped the way; the healthcare industry has scaled up in the past few decades. However, while healthcare organizations are trying their best to keep abreast with the pace of the fast-growing industry, these organizations are also dealing with the challenges of ensuring effective human resource management. Healthcare organizations are driven by the spirit of adding value to someone’s life. This impact felt in healthcare is unmatched in any other industry. This forms the core of a good healthcare organization. At “The CEO Magazine-Great Place to Work”, we have listed “Suburban Diagnostics”, as a healthcare organization centred around patient service, where happy employees is a focus with the common goal of bringing joy to the lives of patients and healthy individuals alike.

Suburban Diagnostics is a leading chain of multi-specialty medical diagnostic laboratories with an expansive network of comprehensive diagnostic centers in Mumbai, Pune and Goa. With a mission to deliver precise testing and healthier living for Indians, Suburban Diagnostics has emerged as a name to reckon with in the diagnostics domain, under leadership of an alumnus of Grant Medical College, Mumbai – Dr. Sanjay Arora, who has specialized in Cytopathology from Tata Memorial Hospital and Johns Hopkins and Henry Ford Hospital, USA. Accurate and precise diagnosis, stringent quality checks at every stage, national and international accreditations in the field of diagnostics are features that speak volumes about the standard of care that patients receive at Suburban Diagnostics.

Founded in 1994, Suburban Diagnostics was a humble beginning by Dr. Sanjay Arora that has over the last 25 years grown into an organization of 1000+ employees with around two thirds of the workforce being medical and paramedical in nature; comprising qualified pathologists, radiologists, cardiologists, physicians, phlebotomists and lab technicians.

Over the years, the company has continuously invested in ergonomically designed lab spaces and advance diagnostic systems sourced from world leaders in diagnostic technology. Not to mention, its timely investments in advanced IT systems which facilitate across the board access to patient data and test results, for easy online reporting, retrieval, warehousing and archival.

The centers have well trained customer interface teams who lay ample stress on empathy and hand holding, making patients feel comfortable and at ease right from the reception desk to getting their final test reports.

Today, after 10 million tests and serving over 3 million patients, Suburban Diagnostics continues to raise the bar to achieve optimum accuracy and precision, besides constantly endeavouring to propagate wellness and preventive healthcare through a series of health check-up packages and patient care initiatives.

However, what sets Suburban Diagnostics apart from other organizations in this segment is the fact that in addition to offering best-in-class state of the art infrastructure and services, Suburban Diagnostics has also maintained a high level of work satisfaction among its employees. As an organization we foster complete transparency. Our employee engagement initiatives understand the psychological factors of job satisfaction which includes all round achievements, feedback, flexibility and recognition.

Spearheading the company’s rapid growth at the current stage, is the leader of Suburban Diagnostics, Dr. Sanjay Arora. With extensive global experience across domains, he is a successful and versatile healthcare leader. In the lounge with Abhishek Dubey – Senior Editor, The CEO Magazine, he shares his vision of creating a transformation in the world of emerging healthcare and making a difference to the lives of people throughout the country.

Here is the edited excerpt of an exclusive interview:

How does the organization support its employees’ professional develop-ment and career growth?

Suburban conducts training session for employees at regular intervals keeping employees and organization interest in mind. We encourage employees to participate in knowledge/skill based programs right from entry level to middle management level. Employees are also sent for external training program to sharpen their competencies.

How would you characterize the company’s overall management style?

Suburban management is very transparent and revolves around our 8 core values

Genuine Care

Enthusiasm

Building Great Relationships

Don’t Settle (What’s Next) Innovate & Evolve

Display Diligence

Attention to Details

Strive Towards Zero Error

Lead by Example

Suburban conducts Town hall- ‘Preparing for Breakthrough Performance’ – Direct Dil se once in six months, where Dr Sanjay Arora, himself takes the team through yearly result & key developments, our future business strategy and give us some insights on the aforementioned points. Town hall gives Suburbanites platform to share ideas and also seek clarification on relevant issues directly with MD. The company also follows open door policy for employees at every level.

What is your company’s approach to team building and career development?

At Suburban 70% of our employees are at an entry level. This is the team which directly interacts with our customers. We pay special emphasis with Initiatives like Yoga Day, Zumba, Pot luck, English Training, Excel Training, skill upgradation session, continuous sales training and many more. Even for middle and senior management team lunch, training program and various other engagement activities are organised.

At Suburban Diagnostics we have a career development plan for each individual, as per the employee’s hierarchical band and functional role. We try to map organization needs with individual needs, we showcase career options to our employees by examining their interests, skills and values through goal setting and a self-assessment process.

How does your company respond to and overcome failures?

Suburban understands and believes that failures are a stepping stone to success. Therefore we practice the thought “Do it once, Do it right”. Even in a case of failure, we ensure corrective action is promptly taken keeping in mind the employee morale. However Suburban does not tolerate failures based on integrity issues.

How are employees recognized for their efforts?

At Suburban Diagnostics, employees are not only recognized at the spur of the moment for the good job done but also by sharing an email to all suburbanites in a daily newsletter called “Aaj Ki Achi Khabar”. We believe recognition and acknowledgement of efforts at an organizational level are the best drivers of employee motivation.

Suburban also celebrates “Appreciation Day” every month, where HR collects all the appreciation notes and the person with the ‘Highest Appreciation Notes’ is felicitated with an ‘Appreciation Certificate’.

We also run a robust reward and recognition policy to engage our employee base

Do the company’s different depart- ments ever collaborate with one another? What kinds of people seem to succeed in this company/ department?

We have continuous cross functional discussion between Heads of Departments and subsequently percolating down to the managerial level for effective execution. Every head of a department is aligned with cross functional and organizational strategy. These are

Clinical excellence and creating a strong medical brand

Engaged workforce, training and organization development

Revenue growth and profitability

Customer experience standardi-zation

Milestones

1994 – 2004:’The Beginning’ – Suburban emerged as the largest diagnostic player in the western suburbs of Mumbai

Bringing Future-ready Outsourcing Services with the help of its Extended Family: Thinktel Solutions By: Vikas Jha What are the traits of a working place which entices many prospective employees to prefer the place over several other such work places?How does it get entitled to feature in a list of coveted employers those are positioned as […]

Bringing Future-ready Outsourcing Services with the help of its Extended Family: Thinktel Solutions

By: Vikas Jha

What are the traits of a working place which entices many prospective employees to prefer the place over several other such work places?How does it get entitled to feature in a list of coveted employers those are positioned as the best places to work? The answer lies in many factors a few of which include; that place should have an ambience where employees are treated as family members, it should be a setupproviding freedom to employees, should be an enterpriserecognizing efforts of employees publicly and rewarding them time to time for their exceptional work etc.Thinktel Solutions is one such company which has been treating its employees as family members since its inception. This sense of being a family member engenders an ardour of ownership among its employees. The sense of ownership invigorates every employee with zeal to bring forward their best effort. Their efforts have fructified tremendously by bringing recognition for the company in the field of outsourcing.Outsourcing is a word which has become the guiding soul for many leading industries. One among those very industries is BPS (Business Process services). This is a platform which works with multi-pronged levels. What are the traits of an ideal BPS? First of all, it should be pro-active in handling customer queries. Its team members should stay updated with the latest trends and the changes in the behavior of customers’ needs. It should be viable to achieve cost reductions while improving service quality and focusing on core business capabilities. Thinktel Solutions has positioned itself among those few companies which have been unleashing the best Business Process Service practices throughout India for almost a decade.

Spearheaded by a vigorous and visionary leadership under Mr Kaushik Biswas(Managing Director) and Souvik Biswas (Director), Thinktel Solutions was established in the year 2009. Regaling its clients in sectors such asNGO’s,Telecom, Banking ,Transaction-Processing and Hospitality , it has maintained its reliability and trust by its endeavour to serve excellent services. The company with its world class services has become an epitome of excellence. It also expertises in partnering few of the largest chains of fund raising companies working for the various social cause of the society. Providing exemplary outsourcing services to its clients in eastern parts of India, ithas made its presence felt in South as well where it is catering to some of the mega cities of India such as Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad and in the west Thinktel Solutions India is widely present too by providing its services in the business capital of India i.e, Mumbai and its neighbor Pune. It is looking for new market avenues in the Middle-East countries. This Kolkata based company boasts ofhaving more than half a thousand employees who are treated like family members, as already mentioned, by its top management. Company has shown time-tested capabilities in data businesses. Its outsourcing model with a methodized client-engagement and delivery framework provides it the robustnessrequired. It maintains the quality of its services by a team of Auditors and Quality Analysts. Any inconsistency in trendsand business is identified by Quality Assurance team. Improvements beyond the standards are checked by Quality Control team.

Thinktel offers fully-integrated customer centric services to a few industries which include NGO’s, Telecom, Banks/Financial Services, Transaction Processing services,Insurance and Hospitality through Inbound and Outbound process. Some of its services include Fund raising, Campaign Management, Credit & Collections, Financial Investigations, transaction processing management etc. The aptness of Thinktel Solutions in Cost containment, speed and accuracy makes it a hot favourite among its clients for managing Business Process Services.

Differential Factors

The company allows its workforce the time and space required to complete their other personal commitments. In a candid chat with our Senior Editor Mr Abhishek Dubey, the MD of Thinktel Solutions Mr Kaushik Biswas and Mr Souvik Biswas (Director) said that there is no set time limit for their employees because they are like family members. Biswas Duos iterated in unison that family members don’t need basic permissions. These words can be epitomized as golden words which sounds music to a working person. What else do an employee look for. The foremost trait that a person seeks for in his or her prospective employer is flexibility. Thinktel proves its flexibility by the above mentioned words. Mr.Kaushik Biswas added further that every employee sets his or her work commitments according to the work needs and works accordingly to achieve his or her target. If one achieves ones target then he or she is rewarded by the company accordingly. But there is no pressure exerted or target given by the company. Every Employee is a boss here.

The company arranges many social outings from time to time in order to provide recreation for its employees. It celebrates birthdays of employees, organizes various kinds of sports activities to rejuvenate them from the monotonous lifestyle. It sends many employees to attend different kinds of workshops which prove helpful for those employees who hesitate or have a stage-fear. Apart from this, they attend numerous seminars across world which enhances the personality of employees.

Words of wisdom

If employees are given a sense of ownership then they don’t hesitate to put their best efforts forward in order to lead their company from the front.

Edible oils and Food that Fuel the growth story of Adani Wilmar Ltd Likely to market Chakki Fresh Atta, Soya Nuggets & Rice, eyes global agri-business By Ayanangsha Maitra The demand for edible oils is increasing every single day in the global market. India’s fastest growing edible oil sector has been growing at the CAGR […]

The demand for edible oils is increasing every single day in the global market. India’s fastest growing edible oil sector has been growing at the CAGR of 19%. Adani Wilmar Limited- a pioneer in the sector – is striving to catch up this pace. Almost nineteen years ago, Adani Wilmar responded the call of lucrative and unexplored business of edible oil sector. Adani Wilmar, the bellwether of the sector – has now recorded a total turnover of ₹29,000 crore divided between two main business areas – edible oil and foods. A Joint Venture of Adani Group and Singapore’s private infrastructure major Wilmar International Limited, Adani Wilmar didn’t take much time to solidify its position in the market. The company is now a leading super power of quality edible oil and food products to the markets of India and Middle East. They have the largest range of edible oils spanning across the categories of Soya, Sun, Mustard, Rice bran, Groundnut, Cottonseed and have extended its basket of offering with the introduction of the revolutionary oil – Vivo, India’s first oil for Diabetes care. The other business arm deals with Basmati Rice, Pulses, Soya Chunks, Besan and Fortune Chakki Fresh Atta. The product portfolio of Adani Wilmar spans under various brands such as – Fortune, King’s, Bullet, Raag, Avsar, Pilaf, Jubilee, Fryola, Alpha and Aadhaar. Adani Wilmar Limited also caters to institutional demand through its industry essential range which includes bulk packs of consumer essentials as well as Lauric& Bakery fats, Castor Oil derivatives, Oleo chemicals and Soya value added products. The company has an omni-channel presence in India and Middle East through multichannel distribution including exclusive brand stores, Fortune apps, online partners and distribution. Snapdeal is their logistics partner.Adani Wilmar has 21 manufacturing plants and 25 toll units in India. Their plants in Bangladesh are located in Dhaka and Mongla. These plants are able to full fill 18% of their total oil production. The rest 82% is sourced from US, Ukraine, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Over two thousand employees consider Adani Wilmar as the best place to workas its mission-driven culture, transparent leadership and it’s a strength-based organization which encourages employees that play to their strengths. In a conversation with The CEO Magazine, Mr T.K. Kannan, CEO of Adani- Wilmar, reveals more. Here are the excerpts.

The CEO Magazine: Adani- Wilmar is home to 2000 people. What kinds of employee achievements are recognized by the company?

Adani Wilmar is certified Great Place To Work and the company is successfully moving to further enhance the workplace with initiatives like health survey of employees. The company is high on Capability Building as well as on growth prospect. The performance is evaluated annually and the employee achievements are recognized on the basis of the on-time completion of their key projects and responsibilities in a particular year. Moreover, we also felicitate the employees for their long association with us. To recognize the talent we also have platforms such as ‘I have an Idea’, ‘Star of the Quarter’, Annual Awards etc.

TCM: How are employees recognized for their efforts?

There is a structured process to recognize the efforts by scaling their position and giving them additional responsibilities.

TCM: Does the company have a stated set of cultural values for its employees?

Yes, we have clearly defined our cultural values and our employees have imbibed them in their day to day practice. Our Values – Courage, Trust & Commitment expects embracing new ideas and businesses, believing in our employees & stakeholders and standing by our promises while adhering to high standards of business.

TCM: Can you describe the environment here?

At Adani Wilmar, we have always stressed on ensuring a Transparent, Friendly, Fearless and Futuristic environment. We encourage the participative approach and make the environment more conducive by having a two way communications between the management and employees.

TCM: How does the organization support its employees’ professional development and career growth?

We strongly believe that learning is a never ending process and hence we encourage our employees to take up initiatives that can help them in their career growth. We as a company have also furnished various platforms such as ‘eVidyalaya’, Harvard Manage Mentor (HMM) etc. which helps them to grow internally as well as in their career.

TCM: How would you characterize the company’s overall management style?

We have Democratic management style and follow an Open Door Policy at Adani Wilmar. This helps us to ensure transparency and a smooth functioning of the systems & processes.

TCM: What is your company’s approach to team building and career development?

The company has strong foundation of Culture & Values that help us in team building. The employees are encouraged to participate in various internal initiatives basis on their interests and thus a pool of talent is created that works in sync.

TCM: How does your company respond to and overcome failures?

The company has rigorous review mechanism in place that ensures that setbacks are minimal. The successes and failures are shared with the employees and learnings are drawn from such instances to overcome such situations in the future.

TCM: What is the work-life balance like here?

We have always encouraged that the employees set a fine balance between work and home. The company provides enough scope to the employees to make sure that they spend enough time with their families. Our initiatives like Flexi-timing, Availability of Leaves etc. gives testimony of the same.

TCM: Does the company host social outings or events for employees?

At Adani Wilmar, we strongly believe the employees perform better only when they are free from work pressure. Throughout year we have several initiatives such as Sports Event, Family Fiesta, Outbound Training etc. that helps us ensure a stress-free environment at work.

TCM: What personality traits do you look for in your ideal team members?

The management looks for someone who is consistent in excellent performance at the same time they are great people managers, employee who is taking end to end ownership of the given responsibility, someone who can look beyond KRAs, he/she should be aligned with organization objectives, continuously learning & raising the bar, committed and have a long term perspective, believing in motivating, coaching & mentoring others, he/she is decision maker, bias on implementation, delivery, growth & sustainability, he/she is positive, energetic, persuasive, hard-working and can live in ambiguity.

TCM: Is the company’s strategic approach driven by processes or results?

Processes play a key role in company’s strategic approach.

TCM: Do the company’s different departments ever collaborate with one another? What kinds of people seem to succeed in this company/department?

Yes, we have set up programs like rotational transfers that brings synergy among various departments, regular interaction, cross functional reviews and platforms are provided where representative from different departments participate. For example collaboration between Marketing & Logistics, Production & Supply etc.

TCM: Where do you want to see AWL in near future?

AWL is currently one of the fastest growing food FMCG companies in India and few years down the line sees itself playing a major role not only in the edible oils but also in other food categories like Atta, Rice, Soya Nuggets and few other products that are currently in the pipeline.In keeping up with its spirit of innovation, the company has introduced a new dimension to its activities through introduction of Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy. The strategy helps in diagnostic study for better understanding of existing business structure and its relevance to new products & identifies capability gaps across the chain. The key driver of this transformation is to help the company move ahead with changing times.